One Good Turn
by mariposa241
Summary: There exist several stories wherein the young female protagonist gets lost or hurt on her own in London and gets help from Dan of danisnotonfire, but in this story, wherein Dan needs a girl's help while visiting America, he's in her debt and does her a favor accordingly!
1. Chapter 1

I have absolutely nothing to do tonight. Granted, Sunday nights are always quiet for me, but this particular weekend, even though it's only 8pm, I've done as much "nothing" as I can absolutely stand. My apartment-mate Kelsey is busy working on her laptop and I sit with her at the kitchen table, watching the sun set. Although it's the summer of my second year in the city, I still don't have many connections or any particular ambition to go out and find myself a good time. Simply put, I am such an uninteresting person that I'm already running out of things to do by mid-July. I resign myself to an evening of online window-shopping or following an endless rabbit trail of YouTube suggested videos.

Fortunately, though, I somehow remember since it's a Sunday there will be an outdoor movie in the park. I check my phone to see what it is. Although I've always been meaning to go, I never managed to get there for an evening showing last summer or this one so far. The schedule notes that they're screening a popular superhero movie from last summer, something I had wanted to see but never rented. Comparing that to my other options, I decide to go, at least for a little while. I have to search for my picnic blanket to take to sit on, but when I find it I grab a jacket and head out, saying bye to Kelsey as I close the door softly.

The park is 15 minutes away or so, at least at my walking speed, which is quite fast as I'm chronically running late for things. As I walk, I gather up my courage to do something I try to do more often, which is push myself a little out of my comfort zone and meet a new person. I am less shy than simply reluctant to put effort into social communication, although I try to do it in class, at events, at conferences, and at the occasional social event I find myself in. My blanket is big enough for several people, so I decide to find someone sitting by his or herself and introduce myself. Although I know a few people in the city this summer, I always convince myself that they wouldn't really want to spend time with me, even if I asked, or simply forget to reach out to them. As a result, I do I do a lot of things alone. In my head, I practice what I want to say to my imaginary new acquaintance. I do this in line when ordering food, too-maybe that tells you a little about how confident I am in social situations-but I can act a little more confident than I feel if I at least have one sentence to start out with.

"Good evening," (I promise I actually say that) "would you like to share my picnic blanket?"

After a few recitations, it's dusk and I'm at the park. There are a lot of people here; it is a popular movie and mild weather. It's mostly teens and college-age kids all in groups of friends, along with some families, and I look around for someone by him or herself. At the side of the group I see a guy who looks normal enough and about my age, and while I wonder for a second why he's alone, I walk up before my courage expires.

Trying not to startle him, I start out, "Good evening, would you like to share my picnic blanket?"

A brief interlude: last year or two years ago I discovered and watched most of the "British twenty-something male vlogger" corpus on YouTube, and I occasionally reminisce when new videos of theirs come up on my subscription dashboard as I procrastinate from being productive. And yes, you guessed it, the person who gets up from sitting cross-legged on the ground, in my very own boring Pittsburgh, is Dan Howell of danisnotonfire.

Internally, I put my hand over my eyes, turn away, and mutter "what did I do, what the heck did I just do…" but in real life I smile a little as he says "Sure, thanks." Because what viewer like me doesn't have at least a little crush on this handsome guy?

"Happy to," I reply (because I actually say that sort of thing too) and hand him one edge of the blanket. We put it out and all I can think of is "well, he's a lot taller than I expected." Before we sit down I say, "I'm Scarlette" offering my hand for a handshake.

Taking my hand, and smiling he says "I'm Dan, nice to meet you Scarlette" and I decide that I can't and won't pretend not to know who he is, so I simply say, "I know."

I sit down rather quickly and look away, but then look back as he says, "Thanks? You mean from YouTube, right, because I don't think we've met."

"Yes, yes, from YouTube," I say. "That's it." There are a lot of things I could say next, like I enjoy his videos, or they are particularly relatable, or they inspired me in some way, but I realize he has heard all of that many, many times before. Though I'm sure he appreciates hearing that sort of thing, I stay silent, not wanting to be just another fan.

I'm beyond surprised to see Dan in Pittsburgh, of all places, so I figure that might be somewhere to start that's not too mundane. "What brings you to sunny Pittsburgh?" I ask, somewhat in jest because it rains and clouds here more often than it suns.

"I'm here for a conference meeting thing with the Entertainment Technology Center, if you've heard of it, we're meeting at Carnegie Mellon. I'm here more as a participant than a presenter, I guess, just to hear about other views on interactive media and such. I'm in New York City for YouTube already and this was close and happening near the same time, so I thought why not?"

"Well, New York and Pittsburgh are close in terms of the whole US, but isn't that like a seven-hour drive?" It's the first thing that comes to mind, maybe not the most interesting, but I have always found it noteworthy that international tourists get the idea that everything in America is so close but the interesting things are in reality rather far apart, especially if you drive.

"I flew, I'm not sure how long it is to drive."

"Ok…well, you didn't miss much." I'm trying to think of something to connect on. "I'm a grad student at Carnegie Mellon, the university that belongs to…or the university that the ETC belongs to," I say. I'm a handicapped conversationalist, and right now I'm thinking a mile a minute about interesting or at the very least appropriate things to say in this situation. "Did the conference start already or did it finish?"

"I got here earlier today and there was an introduction tonight, and afterwards I decided to wander around. I don't know anyone else at the conference, that is. And then I came across this movie playing-just couldn't resist." After a pause, I suppose he's equally deep in the what-to-say-next train of thought, he says, "So Carnegie Mellon, what do you study?"

"Computer science," I say, a little satisfied inside when he looks impressed.

"Anything with computer games, or that sort of thing?"

"Not quite, more algorithms and theory. I'm working this summer on a research project with optimization of tree building algorithms…" I trail off, doubting he really wants to hear about what I'm doing. Most people, like friends from home and my family, just smile and nod and ask about my other pastimes, or my plans for the daunting future.

But he looks interested."You must be really smart then."

"Thanks." I can't say I never hear that, but I don't like calling attention to it. It's hard for me to take compliments. And especially from someone I admire for his own work and career, though it's about as different from mine as possible.

The movie looks like it is going to start, and I glance over at Dan, but he isn't watching, he's still looking at me. He says, "I promise I won't understand it, but can you tell me about what you do, I feel like I should prepare for smart people talking at me about computers for this conference…not that it's just…if you want to."

"Sure," I smile. I much prefer talking about my work than about myself, and when someone gives me the chance, I take it. "So starting at the beginning, have you heard of…" I give him the five-minute introduction to why what I'm doing is relevant to something most people can understand, then the synopsis of my project that I'd give to a knowledgeable person with little previous knowledge of the field. When I finish, he nods slowly. "Ask a question, and I'll see how I did with that," I say.

"So when you said tree, and you said it was a way to organize information, you drew it out with your finger, but it had the branches or whatever going down, why is that?" He draws in the air with his first finger like I had been doing earlier. I make a note to ask for questions a little earlier, because that concept was a little essential to the topic, but I explain happily.

"Convention I guess? And when you think about some things, it's good to have gravity that direction, and doing things from top to bottom happens better that way. I don't know, I see trees in my mind that way, with things moving and…" as he looks skeptical, or at least I assume so in the gathering darkness, I add, "I promise I'm a real person, I go outside sometimes, where there are regular trees."

He laughs at that, "I believe you. I have to justify myself like that too. Like, another hour of video games? It's okay, I took out the recycling earlier and saw the sky and something green." I smile a little at that. "Well I suppose you already knew what I do," Dan continues, "and now I know what you do, at least a little bit. I can see you really like your project."

"I guess I do. I try and do stuff that I like whenever I can, and I was lucky that this project found me because it's, at least I find it, super cool." He nods in support.

I had never thought about meeting Dan before, when I was watching his videos, but I'm sure if I had it wouldn't involve me explaining my research to him for ages and talking about the weather. Next we're commiserating how awful winters in Pittsburgh are compared to London and although I win big in the snow department, the two cities' percentages of overcast days seem tied. I'm only chatty when I'm nervous and feel awkward, so being both of those things right now makes me more conversational than usual.

"I think I photosynthesize…I can't wait to move somewhere sunny," I say.

"Well, I wish you all the best!"

'Thank you," I say sincerely.

I realize we haven't been watching the movie at all, and I turn back to the large screen strung between some trees. "Have you seen this one?" I ask.

"Think so. Yes, when it was new."

"I guess I'm behind the times, I haven't seen it. Not that I mind talking, though."

"Don't want to keep you from it or anything..."

I interrupt, "It's okay."

He pauses, and then continues. "So say I'm in Pittsburgh for two more full days. I have the conference until like 5pm but what are the things to do while I'm here?"

I shake my head, "You're asking the wrong person, I don't do anything interesting with my evenings; I'm practically an old lady. I'm trying to think of exciting things you might not have done anywhere else, and honestly nothing comes to mind. I'm awful PR for the city, it really is nice, but all that to say I don't have a clue what young people do for fun here."

"Well, that's okay, just asking."

I continue, thinking out loud. "I had my brother visit me here last summer, let's see, we went to a museum, to dinner, just walking around the neighborhood or downtown or the strip district…which ISN'T what it sounds like," I interject, preempting the reaction I always get to that neighborhood's name, "it's shops and farmers markets, and called that because it's like a long piece of land. Wait, you might like the incline, it's a sort of railway that goes straight up, and at the top there's a nice view of the city. Try it in the evening-I don't know how best to get there, but that's a thought. Something uniquely Pittsburghy."

"Thanks for the tip. It seems like a pretty friendly city, like I can walk around places alright."

"Mostly, especially here around the universities. It's livable and a nice place to go to school and work. Not really crowded or polluted, it's more made up of neighborhoods than being super urban."

"Do you drive places, then?"

"Me, no, I don't have a car, I take PT when I need to get places. It's a bus-based city, and some people say it's awful service, but I have nothing to compare it to, so I think it's fine. But compared to London, it's probably like a small town, right?"

He tells me about his view on London public transportation and we share bus/underground stories. "Just the other day I was going to the grocery," I relate, "and I just barely caught a bus at the intersection where the stop was, and I got on and sat down and realized it was going downtown instead of out of town. The worst part is I stayed on for like three more stops because I was too embarrassed to get right off." This was, surprisingly, the first time I'd ever made that particular blunder, but I have a feeling it's uncommon among the general population.

He makes me feel a little better when he adds, "I would probably have done the same thing. Like both get on wrong, and not be able to get off for a while."

We commiserate in our awkward moments, though Dan is much more personable than some of his Internet stories about his 'failures' would let on.

At one point, however we've gotten to this conversation topic, he's explaining how he decided to get his first iPhone over another cellphone brand, and I zone out a little. "You still there?" he asks.

"I can't hear your words through the British," I say, immediately realizing that was rather rude and adding "not that you don't speak clearly, I just never hear that accent around here. It's cute, I mean, it's…I should just stop talking."

Taking this in stride, he retorts with, "Well…would it be better if I talk in an American accent?" in an attempt to emulate something American that sounds simultaneously New Jersey and Deep South.

As I contain a smile, I say, "I never thought about people from other countries doing American accents, is that what we really sound like?"

"It's hard to get it just right, and everyone's different, so I don't think it's as much a social comment as a 'what do we glean from ubiquitous American media' comment." He's changed back to his ordinary voice.

I don't dare try a British accent, but I do mention that my name is one of my favorite things to hear pronounced by Britons. Dan kindly cooperates and formally graces the next few of his sentences with my name.

It gets to be about 10pm and the movie isn't quite over, but Dan looks at his phone and makes a reluctant face. "I really ought to find my way back now," he says. "So how would you get here?" he asks, showing me an address on the screen.

All things considered, he's probably just being polite in asking me for directions, but I answer honestly, "I'd use Google Maps." I put the location into my phone. Maybe international service has a problem with maps. Or he might be asking to keep the conversation going and be nice, even though he knows how to get there? Talking to people is complicated.

When it loads, I notice that it's a nice hotel right downtown. "I'd go for this route and take the…" I'm not sure if he thinks it's walkable, or wants to take the bus or expects to get a cab, "were you thinking to bus it?"

"I guess if bus is a verb, I might as well try since you say it's not awful."

"Then this stop," I point, "and inbound is this side of the street. Because I recently learned that's a thing." I tap the next direction step. "And you get off here, and you're down this way, ah, two streets."

"Okay. Where are we now?"

"Well the stop's on my way so I can show you."

"I don't mean to make you leave, since the movie's still on," he says politely.

"That's fine," I shrug, "I'm not that attached. I have work tomorrow too." He helps me fold my blanket and we leave the park.

As we near an intersection, I almost step into the street but as a car zooms past I check myself. "I'm really bad at cities," I say, and relate an incident about how a tow truck almost backed into me at an intersection-meanwhile, we safely cross the street. As we near the stop, I remember something important. "And you're inbound so you pay on the way on the bus."

"Oh, right, money." He checks his wallet and I say "$2.50" and he says "Crap. I literally don't have any cash."

On an impulse, I offer, "You can use my university pass."

"But don't you need it back?"

"Um, I work near campus so I can get it from you later?" I say with a bit of a question mark at the end.

"I don't mean to be a trouble, but that would be so nice of you."

"My pleasure. Have you seen Dark Knight Rises?" I ask, on purpose abruptly.

"Yes but…"

"I work at Gotham City Hall." I show off this bit of trivia whenever I can, I like to think it makes me a little closer to famous or something.

"No way!" he says. "They filmed that here?"

"Yup. Sure did. Let me tell you how to get there from campus and you can return it like Tuesday evening." I give him the directions and we agree to meet at 5pm when I finish work.

We arrive at the stop and I hand my card. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do." He turns it over to inspect and I quickly say, "and don't look at my horrible photo on there either."

"Lovely to meet you," I say as the light turns yellow and I go to cross the street towards my apartment. He waves, and although I'm a little disappointed that I don't get a danisnotonfire salute, I wave back. He gets on the bus-the right one, I'm happy to see-and I manage to not get run over by any vehicles on my way back to my apartment.

I'm surprised how calm I am when I realize I've just met a sort of celebrity, at least in some circles and more-so across the pond. But still, I replay the conversation-did I talk too much? Did I go on and on about myself when I should have stopped? In spite of myself, I can't wait until Tuesday afternoon even though we'll only meet for a moment.


	2. Chapter 2

Work the next day isn't particularly enthralling, but it's not boring either. I spend time staring at a whiteboard, reading some journal articles, helping a colleague debug, and before I know it, it's closing time. I put in my headphones for the walk home, just arriving too late at the first cross street for the pedestrian signal. I look across as I wait for it to cycle through again, and I see someone I know. Quickly, I look away. It may sound awful, but I don't like seeing people I know while walking around; it makes me think of how I _should _connect with them, _should_ have more friends, _should _get out more often, and I end up feeling worse than when I started. I dread crossing this street even more when I process who it is. Nick, another computer science grad student, who was a teaching assistant in a class I took my first semester here. It was a straightforward class to get all the new people in the department on the same page with what we should have learned in undergrad, and there were very few things that I hadn't already seen before, but I may have gone to office hours a few more times than was necessary on his behalf. It feels so banal to admit it to myself, but I took a fancy to him. We still chat every so often if we pass in the hall or at a university event.

It seems worth it to mention that on the boyfriend front, I've been vacillating between the "I'm too busy, it's better this way" and "I'm quite lonely, this needs to change" frames of mind for several years, which has not been enough to push me to do anything about it. One of my summer goals, once I'd learned in a brief exchange that Nick would be here this summer too, was to do something-anything at all-to get myself on his radar. That goal had fallen by the wayside as "better safe than sorry" had been my governing sentiment, but noticing him brought back the thought of "get yourself together and do this." I reason with myself: look how putting yourself out there yesterday turned out-that was nice, right-how much harder can this be and what's to lose? The signal sounds, but I don't cross. I look at him, wave and take my earphones out, and take a deep breath.

"Hey, Scarlette!" he says, and I reply with "Hey, Nick, how's it going?"

"Good, you're here this summer, I remember you'd said," he replies. "You doing tree algos with Thompson still?"

I'm surprised and a little excited he remembers my project. "Sure am, we're trying to get it in a conference for the fall. And are you with the same group this summer?"

"Yup, that and they're revamping 512," (the class we met through) "and Donnell wants me in on it since I've been the TA. So helping out with that."

"Good stuff." I waver a little, but having rehearsed what I want to say in this imaginary encounter a few times over the past weeks, I continue. "I've got to head home, but do you want to come over to my place for dinner one night this week? Like tomorrow or Wednesday?"

I see he's a little surprised, and I immediately reprimand myself, but in just a moment he replies, "Well, sure. I'll take you up on that. Is tomorrow okay?" Inwardly squee-ing, I play it cool and nod. "Can I bring anything?"

"I have no clue what I'm making, so anything you want."

"Be careful saying that, I am a very poor cook. Do you live far from here?"

"No, just down the block." I tell him the cross streets and he knows what building I mean. "And the intercom is broken, so you should call me when you get there." I am well aware he doesn't have my phone number, so I suggest, "I'll put my number in your phone." He unlocks it, hands it to me, and I enter my contact info, sending myself a smiley face so I have his number too, and then return it to him.

"6pm tomorrow, see you then," he says, and I echo with a, "See you then." I turn towards the intersection again and break into a big smile. You go, girl!

Tuesday is filled with anticipation of both my card-exchange with Dan and dinner with Nick (I ran it by Kelsey, who agreed to be there to make it worlds less awkward and "chaperone" us, as she put it) and I have trouble focusing once it gets to be about 3pm. I stick it out till 5 though, and as I head out hurriedly, my office-mate jokes, "Hot date tonight, Scarlette?"

I make an innocent face, ever the one to hide what's actually going on in my life, and say, "Who, me? I wish!" as I exit.

It's always a surprise going outside after a day holed up in the innards of the building, and I typically have both sunglasses and an umbrella at the ready. Today is an umbrella day for sure; it's pouring steadily and I think I hear thunder in the distance. I wait on the portico and soon enough a Dan comes walking up the front steps, rather wet, and I walk down to meet him.

"Hi there! I'm sorry you got caught in the rain," I say, sort of moving my umbrella to the side as he gets my ID out of his wallet.

"Not a big deal, I am sadly umbrella-less but hey, what can you do."

I step up several stairs to get under the portico edge and he follows, looking at the façade. "Batman, I recognize it."

"The apartment building across there was the jail, I think." I point inside the front door, "And the whole Bane thing was just in the lobby." Dan adjusts his hair, as I'd seen him do many a time in videos; I find it funny that he is so careful with his hair, but I don't mention it. "Where are you headed after this?" I ask, as he seems a little reluctant to go back into the downpour.

"Hotel, I guess, I did get the number of a taxi service and some money so I can actually get there this time."

I don't know where the idea comes from, but before I can think it through I ask, "Want to come over for dinner?" I haven't forgotten for one second that Nick is coming too, but a little thought of but my offer is out and I chastise myself a little inside. Who do I think I am? What the heck did I just do?

"Since I clearly don't know anything about getting around in this city, that would be great. I hope it's not imposing."  
"Not at all, let me just call my apartment-mate and make sure she's okay with it," I say.

"That's really kind, I'm impressed you'd do that for each other."  
I smile as she picks up. "Hey Kelsey, I was wondering if we could have another dinner guest…" and she's fine with it immediately.

"Another?" Dan asks. "I really don't want to be a bother."

"Actually, it's quite convenient. I'll tell you when we get there." The rain still hasn't let up. "It's only a couple blocks from here," I say, readying my umbrella.

"Let's do it," he says, and because my umbrella is very small, we each stay about a third dry on the way. We get into the building lobby and I push the elevator button as Dan fixes his hair again.

"Sorry this one doesn't speak to you," I say as we get on, "but did you get in the elevator in the computer science building that does?"

"Yes, it was really funny, cause it sounds like another elevator I've been in but in an American accent."

"Sixth floor, going down," I imitate the distinctive voice.

He does his own British elevator impression as we exit, round the corner, and I unlock the apartment door.

"Good evening," I say customarily, as Kelsey sits on the living room couch with her laptop. "Kelsey, this is Dan, Dan, this is Kelsey." My mom taught me to always do that as a really little kid and it's a habit I've always kept.

"Hello," Dan says.

Kelsey replies with "hello, nice to meet you" and stands up. Looking at me, she tries to get a sense of whether this is guest-number-one or guest-number-two.

I send her a relaxed smile and continue my introduction. "Dan is a…I have no idea how to describe it. You know how I said I watched all the YouTubes? Well Dan is one of the YouTubes I watched."

"We just happened to meet the other day," he helps out, "and Scarlette kindly invited me to dinner."

Kelsey nods. "Unlike Scarlette, I have not watched all the YouTubes, but I'll take your word for it." She's a gem; she knows just how to ease any situation.

I take off my shoes, which are soaked, and kick them by the door, along with my umbrella, purse, and lunchbox. Dan does the same, albeit more courteously. We walk into the kitchen and I motion for Dan to take a seat. "What's for dinner?" I ask jokingly, and he takes it in kind with a smile. "I am making fish and pasta and salad and vegetables, and you are here to make my not-a-date tonight even more of not-a-date."

"What?" he asks.

"Well, there's this guy that I invited over too…"

"This guy?" he interjects suggestively.

"…that she's majorly crushing on," says Kelsey from the doorway,

"Oh stop it, Kelsey, and Dan if you can make him just a _little _jealous to see what he does, it would be both really helpful and really a riot."

Dan pulls a face of mock annoyance. "All this just to get dinner? I guess so, I'll play along and try not to put too much of the moves on."

"I will kick you under the table as a discreet sign if there are too many moves in existence," I counter.

As I turn on the oven, Kelsey says, "Tell me about what you do on YouTube," to Dan.

As he tells the short version of his career story, parts of which I hadn't heard before, I put things in the oven and on the stove.

"Need a hand?" Dan asks.

It's a small kitchen, with really only room for one person comfortably, but I see he is trying to be helpful instead of being awkward, so I give him a task. "You can make the salad, I have a bunch of random things in the fridge and you can choose stuff. Within reason," I add.

"Why do you have three…ow!" he says, interrupted by hitting his head on the handle of the freezer while looking in the fridge. "Three cucumbers."

"And that's just a week's worth," I say, "I kind of have a problem."

"There are worse problems to have, like being too tall for this kitchen," he says with mock anger, taking a handful of vegetables as I pass him a mixing bowl.

"Salad can go in there. Apartment living for the win."

I suddenly realize it is practically 6pm and in a matter of moments I hear my phone. "And

that would be him," I say, feeling a little nervous inside as I pick up and walk out the front door, leaving it ajar. I hear Dan collide with another piece of my kitchen as I round the corner.

I open the door for Nick, who wisely has brought an umbrella, and show him up to our floor. Kelsey has gone back to her computer in the living room and is there again to greet us. "Kelsey, this is Nick, Nick, this is Kelsey."

As she exchanges a handshake and pleasantries, I hear another cabinet-related exclamation from the kitchen and realize I have to offer an explanation for Dan. "There's someone else over, I hope that's okay, he's a YouTube and radio personality from Britain, visiting a conference, and…he didn't have an umbrella." I finish lamely.

"Will I have I heard of him?" Nick asks, to make some sort of conversation as he takes his shoes off by the door.

"danisnotonfire ring a bell?"

"No, no it doesn't."

"You and me both," adds Kelsey, going into the kitchen and we follow her.

Thankfully no cooking tragedies have happened since I've been out, and the food is almost ready to come off the stove and out of the oven.

"Hi Nick, I'm Dan," Dan offers, "the personality, as advertised." As requested, he gives me a wink that, contrary to his description, doesn't look like he's having a stroke.

Nick looks confused for a split second, but plays it cool. "Dan, nice to meet you. Hope you're enjoying the US."

"Immensely, old chap!" Dan affects a stereotypical Mary-Poppins-type British accent that sounds more absurd coming from him than I would have thought.

"Anything I can do?" Nick asks me. I didn't notice until now, but he brought some fruit salad and a half-gallon of lemonade which he sets on the counter.

"Glasses are in the cabinet above the stove, you can pour us drinks. Thanks for bringing those things!"

He pulls out a wine glass and asks, "Are these okay to use? They're the ones at the front."

"Let's do classy, why not?" I reply.

Although he's as tall as Dan, Nick subsequently manages not to injure himself on any of the built-ins as he navigates the kitchen. Kelsey sets the table with utensils and salad dressing. When I'm taking over the salad bowl, I turn Dan's utensils upside-down, like I remember him saying someone did to him because he's left-handed.

We sit down and Dan thanks me, I say you're welcome, and Dan promptly discovers the utensils situation. "I wouldn't have thought you were up to that, Scarlette," he says, turning them properly, "you seem like such a nice person at first…" he shakes his head but I can't contain a smile.

Our dinner conversation starts about Dan's radio show, which he'd left to his cohost Phil the previous weekend so he could have almost a full two weeks in the States. I've never listened to or seen it, so I ask questions along with Kelsey. She's warming up to the idea that we have an Internet and radio personality here for dinner, believing it's actually a real thing instead of a hobby or something.

Not to let Nick feel left out, I quickly manage to include him in the conversation by noting that "Dan's here for an ETC conference, you know a bunch of people over there, right? Are they presenting this week?"

He makes the connection that Dan attended a session by one of his colleagues and now (fortunately and conveniently) knows enough about a certain topic to be conversational. We get on to computer science and projects and Dan seems eager to show off his newfound knowledge from our Sunday conversation. "Scarlette was telling me about her research project, which is very, well, treeful, and interesting, and…" he snaps his fingers as if searching for a word, "optimal." He makes it seem like a very important adjective and nods sagely. "And that's all I know," he subsequently shrugs, and glancing at Nick I see Dan's charisma has eased him up a bit. "She explained it all so well, but I've managed to forget some of the details. Just a few of them."

I compare Nick and Dan for a moment, in spite of myself, because who's to say that they're not both handsome? Although they're equally tall (and I have a thing for tall guys) Nick is blond and has dark-rimmed glasses and is wearing a green shirt and blue shorts; Dan is dark-haired and couldn't possibly be wearing another color than black. Do I have to choose? I laugh inwardly. Dan is nice and all, and famous to boot, but I can relate to Nick so much more with our shared lifestyle, goals, and experiences-not to mention we live on the same continent.

While we've been eating, the rain has let up. I resign myself to the fact that Dan's visit is coming to a close, and as Kelsey clears the table, I say, "Well it was really great to meet you, Dan, that probably made my summer."

"And thank you for dinner, and your bus pass loan. And for getting me on the right bus."  
After a pause, he says "I should make a run for it while it's stopped raining, let me just call for the cab." He goes out into the living room for a moment, and when he finishes, he pokes his head through the doorway, and motions for me to come out into the living room. "You too Kelsey," he calls. "I want to take a picture with you guys to commemorate my visit to Pittsburgh." He adjusts his hair before holding the phone out in front of us and taking a snapshot. "One on your phone too?" he asks me, and I hand it to him; we do the same thing again.

"Thanks!" I say as he hands my phone back to me. We walk towards the door, Kelsey says "Bye Dan" on her way into the other room, and he puts on his shoes.

Quite the professional at handling awkward meetings with fangirls, I'm sure, Dan quickly and appropriately hugs me and says "Bye Scarlette." I show him to the door, and when we get to the hall, he whispers, "Happy to help out with that. But it's up to you now!" As he walks down the hall he turns around and gives me a signature salute and I wave back.

"Interesting guy, right?" Kelsey remarks as I come back into the kitchen.

"And what are you going to do tonight? Besides physics I mean?" I prompt.

"Watch these internet videos of his?"

"You better!" I turn to Nick. "And what are you going to do tonight?"

As he pauses, not expecting the question, I continue, "The right answer is get ice cream with me!"

He looks relieved, and I feel much less guilt than I ought to that my plan-if you could call it that-seems to have not gone horribly wrong at the very least. "I say let's go!" he announces.

Kelsey looks at me from behind Nick and gives a thumbs-up as we go into the living room.

Well, Dan, one good turn deserves another. Maybe I'll invite you to the wedding?


End file.
